Traveling-bucket apparatus.



J C. FRENCH.

TRAVELING BUCKET APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19. l9l5. LlLSUg, Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- .E. C. FRENCH.

TRAVELING BUCKET APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.19.1915.

1 ,l 6'21 30%,, Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS SHEET 2.

J. C. FRENCH.

IRAVELING BUCKET APPARATUS.

APPLICATAON FILED 3.19.1915.

L1@L3%. Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-"SHEET 3.

prr

JAMES c. FRENCH, or KENOSHA,

TRAVELING-BUCKET APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

Application filed February 19, 1915. Serial No. 9,275. 7 e

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMEs C. Fanxorr, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of 510 Exchange street, Kenosha, Kenosha county, \Visconsin. have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traveling-Bucket- Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to traveling bucket apparatus of the kind employed in conjunction with concrete or other mixing machines. In apparatus of this kind, a swinging boom is arranged to support the bucket, and means are provided for causing the bucket to travel back and forth thereon, whereby the materials may be conveyed from the mixer to the point where they are to be used. The said bucket is ordinarily adapted to dump the load when it; reaches the dumping position or point of discharge.

My invention contemplates, in a concrete or other mixing machine of this general character, such as the portable mixing plants employed in putting down paving, a somewhat similar bucket apparatus for delivering the materials to the hopper of the mixer, thereby facilitating the handling of the materials before they are delivered to the mixing machine, and thus rendering the machine or mixing plant more efiicient in this respect, as well as after the materials are mixed together and delivered from the other end thereof.

It is also an object of my invention to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efliciency and desirability of a concrete or other mixing plant of a portable nature and of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed, but it will be understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction disclosed herein.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portable mixing plant having a traveling bucket apparatus embodying the principles of my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section or fragmentary view of the upper portion of said apparatus, being a section on line 2-2 in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine shown in Fig. 1, showing the said apparatus swung to one side of dotted lines, and it being observed that in both of these figures certain portions of the delivery bucket apparatus at the right of the machine are shown broken away for convenience of illustratlon. machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 55 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a similar section on line 6-6 in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the bucket lowered to the ground. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of one of the weights which control the connections by which the upper swinging bucket is automatically moved back and forth on the boom or track when the latter is moved toward and away from its position over the center of the machine, and whereby the bucket is automatically brought into dumping position by the movement of'the boom to a position over the hopper of themixer, and is also automatically shifted to the outer end of the boom, to facilitate its reception of the materials, when the boom is swung outward to a point substantially above the wagon or tram-car or other carrier from which the bucket receives the materials which are desired to be conveyed to the hopper of the mixer.

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a body frame A mounted on wheels a or other suitable supports and adapted to travel along the street which is to be paved. Therotary'mixing receptacle B is suitably supported and arranged to receive the materials from the hopper Z) provided for this purpose. The engine C drives the said rotary receptacle, which latter may be of any suitable known or approved character, through the medium of a shaft 0 and gearing D in the usual and well-known manner, and the discharge end of said receptacle has a spout d for delivering the mixer therefrom.

The traveling bucket apparatus or derrick arrangement for delivering the materials to the hopper b is constructed and operated as follows: An upper boom L is suitably sup ported by upper and lower swivels, the lower swivel l being provided with a worm gearing M for swinging the boom in a horizontal plane and about a vertical axis provided by the said swivels, it'being understood that the latter can be of any suitable character and supported in any desired manner on an upright or elevated portion of the body-frame. The worm gearing M is Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the operated by any suitable connection with the engine C, and is controlled in any suitable manner, whereby the boom is swung back and forth at will. A bucket N is pivoted on the lower ends of the bale n, the latter being supported in any suitable manner by a sheave 0 carried on the hoisting rope or cable '0, whiclrlatter is fastened at its outer end to the distal end of said boom, and arranged to travel over the sheaves P located substantially at the middle of said boom. It will be-seen that from these sheaves the hoist line or cable 0 extends downward over a sheave at the proximal end of said boom, and then downward through the swivel Z, the lower portion of this cable being suitably conductedto an engine driven winding mechanism or drum Q on the lower body frame of the portable mixing plant. By operating this cable 0 the slack portion thereof, or loop-like portion, which supports the sheave 0, will serve to raise and lower the bucket in a mannerthat will be readily understood. These sheaves P are, as previously stated, and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, located substantially at the middle of the boom L when the bucket is in dumping position directly'over the hopper of the mixer. In order, however, that the said bucket may travel outwardly to the distal end of said boom, for the purpose of enabling it to be lowered to the wagon or tram car or other carrier disposed some distance from the side of the mixing. plant, the said sheaves P are supported on a wheeled carriage R which travels on thetrack or runway provided by the upper edge of said-boom. A cable or flexible connection S extends around a sheave s at the distal end of the boom and is then fastened at its end to the front edge of said carriage. A similar cable T extends around a sheaye t on the distal end of the boom, then around a sheave U on the other end portion of the boom, and is then fastened at its end to the rear end of said earriage. A transversely arranged horizontal support V is mounted on the body-frame, at the proximal end of the boom L, and is provided at its ends with pulleys or sheaves v for supporting the cables S and T, in the manner shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 8, the ends ofsaid cables being provided with weights W, and said pulleys or sheaves being provided with swivels 'w to permit free swing-- ing movement thereof about vertical axes when the boom swings from side to side. lVhen the boom swings outward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the cable S operates to pull the bucket automatically to the outer end of the boom, inasmuch as the sheave s moves'fa'rther away from the pulley w of this cable during this swinging movement of the boom, and for the reason that the weight W of this cable acts as a stop to'hold the cable practically fastened at this end. Then when the boom L swings back to a position directly over the mixer, the cable '1 then serves to pull the bucket back to the position shown in Fig. 1, whereby the bucket may then be tilted upsidedown to discharge its load into the hopper. Thus the cables b and T, in combination with the weights \V and the sheaves with which they cooperate. serve as apparatus for automatically drawing the bucket back and forth along the boom when the latter is swung toward and a\vay,from the hopper of the mixer. In this way, the bucket is automatically brought directly over the hopper, merely by the inward swing of the boom, and is then brought into a position to be lowered to a point some distance from the side of the mixing plant (see Fig. 7 and dotted lines in Fig. 3) when the boom is swung outward.

A bucket apparatus of this kind can be used for various purposes, and is not confined to mixers. Also, I do not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A derrick comprising-a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track. and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track.

2. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track. and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said boom having loading and dumping positions for the bucket, and said apparatus having means to move the bucket toward said axis when the boom swings into dumping position.

3. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said means including a hoist line for raising and lowering the bucket.

4. A .derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of'the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said apparatus including flexible connections and sheaves and a weight for the end of each said connection.

5. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and apparatus op- 'erated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said means including a hoist line having a portion. thereof extending downward at said axis to prevent the side swing of the boom from interfering therewith.

6. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means tosupport the bucket on said track, and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said means comprising wheels for said track, sheaves supported by said wheels, a hoisting line in said sheaves, a sheave to support the bucket on said line, means for attaching one end of said line, and means below for operating said line.

7. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on.

said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and appa'atus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, gearing for operating said boom, and means to operate said gearing.

8. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said bucket being pivoted to tilt about a horizontal axis to dump the load.

9. A derrick comprising a boom mounted to swing about a vertical axis, a track on said boom, a bucket, means to support the bucket on said track, and apparatus operated by the swinging movement of the boom to automatically shift the bucket along said track, said apparatus comprising sheaves and flexible connections on said boom, stationary means for supporting the end portions of said connections a distance apart, and weights for said end portions.

Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 30th day of January, 1915.

JAMES C. FRENCH.

Witnesses RAcimL J. RICHARDSON, Rosa E. SEHNEM. 

